Consultations under way to bring back runaway Dar

ISLAMABAD: Attorney General of Pakistan Anwar Mansoor on Tuesday informed the Supreme Court that consultations are underway with concerned departments regarding the safe retrieval of former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar so that he can be tried in pending cases in the court of law.

A three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Mian Saqib Nisar resumed hearing a case pertaining to Dar’s return to the country.

As the hearing went underway, the attorney general said, “Dar’s diplomatic and other passport have been cancelled.”

“The Ministry of Interior has also blacklisted the former finance minister on National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) request,” he further said.

When the attorney general informed that Dar has no valid travel documents, the chief justice questioned, “Then how will he come back?”

“There is a system in place through which he can be brought back,” the attorney general responded.

As AGP Mansoor presented his arguments, Justice Nisar asked him “whether he has reviewed this matter”. The attorney general responded, “I have spoken to concerned authorities regarding Dar’s return.”

Justice Nisar then remarked, “You must be aware that NAB has declared Dar absconder, can the state still not bring him back?”

To this, Justice Ijazul Ahsan added, “We have an extradition treaty with the United Kingdom.”

However, the attorney general responded, “For that we will have to take this matter up in the courts over there.”

Further, during the hearing, the NAB prosecutor general informed the court, “We have found details of several of Dar’s properties and will submit their records together after inquiry.”

The attorney general added, “Consultations are under way with concerned departments to bring him back.”

Directing concerned departments to continue taking steps for Dar’s return, the court adjourned the hearing of the case till next week.

The former finance minister is accused of possessing assets beyond his declared sources of income.

A reference against the former finance minister was filed by the NAB in light of the Supreme Court’s July 28 verdict in the Panama Papers case.

Dar had earlier been declared a proclaimed offender by the accountability court due to his continuous absence from the proceedings.

In November 2017, then-prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had accepted Dar’s request to be relieved of his duties as the finance minister.

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